Lecture/recital. On the Making of the Modern World's Series: To Be Musical. Utterance, Ritual, Expression: Why Singing Makes Us Human.

Synopsis: Before we spoke, we sang. The strange and unimaginable sounds that emerged from the throats of our ancestors led us to the path of language. All cultures sing, and for many song is the way in which humans apprehend their own history. Throughout the modern world, singing is an essential component of sophisticated musical form and expression. Why does singing effect us as it does? The lecture will discuss how singing has driven - and been driven by - our need to communicate and to understand our human experience. With selections from Schubert, Kodaly, Kurtag and Blitzstein. Steven Lewis, piano.

March 6, 8 and 9, 2013kallisti chamber opera Anthony Davis' Lear on the Second Floor UC San Diego

kallisti chamber opera. Producer, soloist. Composed by Anthony Davis with a libretto by Allan Havis, Lear on the 2nd Floor is a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s King Lear. It tells the story of Nora Lear, a prominent neuroscience researcher beset with early onset Alzheimer’s. As she loses her bearings and her autonomy, she is increasingly at the mercy of her three quarreling daughters. Nora’s dead husband Mortimer is her constant companion as she walks through a world where the past and present blend and reality bends. Davis’ arrangement and instrumentation reflect diverse influences ranging from classical opera to jazz to reggae.

Opera News has called Anthony Davis a “National Treasure” for his pioneering work in opera. In his operas, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Tania, and Wakonda's Dream, Davis provides a political and social critique of America with music that embraces a spectrum of influences from Wagner and Berg to Ellington and Mingus to the Indonesian gamelan and South Indian ragas.

The week long residency culminates in a public discussion about the project and performance of excerpts from the piece.

May 8, 10 and 11, 2013Cuatro Corridos at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego

Chamber opera. Producer, artistic director, performer.

Cuatro Corridos is a chamber opera addressing one of the most critical human rights issues of our time: human trafficking. Based on true events, it tells the story of women trapped in a cycle of prostitution and slavery in and around the San Diego/Tijuana border region and represents an unprecedented collaboration between internationally acclaimed Mexican and US-based creative artists.

Led by Grammy Award-winning soprano Susan Narucki and noted Mexican author Jorge Volpi, the fully-staged production features original music by composers Hilda Paredes, Arlene Sierra, Lei Liang and Hebert Vázquez. Each composer gives voice to one of the four female characters by presenting one act in the hour-long drama. Distinguished performers of new music, percussionist Steven Schick/Ayano Kataoka, pianist Aleck Karis, and guitarist Pablo Gómez Cano, accompany Narucki in sharing the compelling stories of four women whose lives are scarred by human trafficking. The powerful production, conceived by Narucki and artist-activist Karen Guancione makes extensive use of iconic set elements and striking original graphic animation projected on a "border wall" that travels with the production.

However, Cuatro Corridos is more than a chamber opera. It represents and ongoing project to raise awareness about human trafficking through creative educational platforms and events organized in partnership with human rights organizations. Two free educational public events including a panel discussion with the composers and a forum featuring respected regional experts on human trafficking were scheduled in conjunction with the opera’s opening weekend.

Chamber opera. Producer, performer, artistic director. With pianist Aleck Karis, percussionist Ayano Kataoka and guitarist Pablo Gómez Cano in first international performance of Cuatro Corridos at the Casa de la Cultura in Tijuana, Mexico, in a unique bi-national partnership with IMAC (the Municipal Institute for Art and Culture) in Tijuana to promote a free performance scheduled on September 28, 2013 in the historic Casa de la Cultura Theater. The performance is to be preceded by a Spanish language forum on human trafficking and followed by a post performance reception.

Chamber opera. Producer, performer, artistic director. Cuatro Corridos will be performed at Nasher Sculpture Center's critically acclaimed series Soundings: New Music at the Nasher in Dallas. With pianist Aleck Karis, guitarist Pablo Gómez Cano and percussionist Ayano Kataoka. Post-performance discussion on “The Reality of Human Trafficking” with Mosaic Family Services.

November 26, 2013Art of Elan - San Diego Museum of Art

Vocal chamber music. John Tavener's Song of the Angel. with Kate Hatmaker, violinist and members of the San Diego Symphony. Narucki recorded work for Angel/EMI with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Lukas Foss conductor, reissue on movie soundtrack “Children of Men” and on Innova records (2018).